MANSEHRA: The Pakistan People’s Party has withdrawn its candidate from the PK-30 by-election in favour of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz nominee to defeat the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf contestant.

“I am pleased to withdraw my party contender for PK-30 by-election in support of the PML-N candidate. My party’s central leadership also desires so,” PPP divisional president Malik Waheed told a meeting here on Thursday.

The Election Commission of Pakistan had announced the holding of PK-30 by-election on Feb 22.

Says both parties will jointly carry out poll campaign

This seat had fallen vacant following the disqualification of PML-N contender Mian Ziaur Rehman in a fake degree case by the Supreme Court last year.

The meeting attended by the PPP and PML-N leaders also announced that the two parties would work together for the success of PML-N contender Mazhar Ali Qasim.

Mr Waheed said his party had withdrawn its contender, Chaudhry Abdul Aziz, and that it would campaign with the PML- N.

PML-N district president Zafar Mehmood said Mazhar Ali Qasim would defeat the PTI contender by a big margin of votes due to the PML-N-PPP alliance.

Also in the day, former federal minster Sardar Mohammad Yousuf handed over the PML-N ticket to Mazhar Ali Qasim for contesting the by-election.

Meanwhile, differences emerged in the PML-N over the award of ticket for the office of tehsil nazim.

“We don’t accept a candidate imposed on us (councillors),” tehsil council member Assad Ali Shah told a news conference on Thursday.

Election for the vacant offices of tehsil nazims and naib nazims will be held on Jan 21.

PML-N leader Sardar Yousuf had authorised district president of the party Zafar Mehmood to name candidate the nazim’s office.

Mr Shah said the party leadership should first interview tehsil councillors and then name consensus candidate.

He said vested interests wanted to see him disqualified from the tehsil council’s seat.

RESTORED: The assistant director (local government and rural development) on Thursday reinstated 25 low- grade employees in light of the orders of the Peshawar High Court’s Abbottabad Circuit Bench.

A notification issued here said reinstatement and fresh appointments were made in light of the high court’s judgment in a case.

It added that the services of every reinstated and appointed employee would be governed by the rules and regulations of the provincial government and that they would be liable to be terminated on the notice of one month.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2019